President's Message - April 2005

April 2005

I'm looking forward to April. Not only will
the wildflowers be out, and some of my favorite birds will
back in town after their winter vacation; I get to set-up my
telescope at the Centre of the Universe!

A big part of the experience is the chance to show visitors
the stars. To listen to the squeals of delight when they
figure out that's really Saturn they're looking at; to help
them discover where the Ring Nebula hides in Lyra; to be
cloaked in their awed silence when they realize how long
starlight from the Andromeda Galaxy has been traveling to
reach them.

I also go to enjoy the company of our fellow amateurs that
regularly set-up on the summit of Observatory Hill. It's an
entertaining collection of people. Some, who are just
starting out, are there to pick-up pointers on how to get
the most out of their new telescopes. They don't realize
that I get as much from them as they remind me what it was
like to see M13 for the first time. Some come to test-out
their new equipment - and I get the chance to tryout all the
different types of telescopes my next scope could be. I get
practical experience on the difference between long focal
lengths and short; refractor and reflectors; Telrads and
Rigel Finders; Go to and push to�

Most of all I go for the ghosts. In the silent spinning of
the great white dome I'm reminded of all the astronomers
that reached back into space and time to unravel the story
of the Universe from this site. JS Plaskett and Pearce
confirmed the rotation and size of our galaxy; McKellar
discovered molecules (including organic ones) in
interstellar space; Beals showed that interstellar matter is
clumpy not spread evenly through space; and in the search
for potentially hazardous near-earth asteroids the Plaskett
Telescope has played a vital role.

The creaking of the shutters doors of the Plaskett dome
remind me of the squeals all the pajama clad kids that
scrambled up rickety ladders to peer through the eyepiece of
what was once the largest telescope in the world. Saturday
public telescope viewing has been part of the DAO since the
telescope was completed in 1918.

How many chances to you have to be part of history? Each
Saturday I set-up my telescope I continue a tradition that
began 87 years ago.

Feel free to join the fun yourself (if you don't already).
Saturday public viewing (from 7 - 11 pm) begins in April and
lasts until the end of October. If Saturday's don't work for
you, CU expands their night time hours to 7 days/week from
May 21 to September 30.

The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada is dedicated
to the promotion of astronomy and its related sciences; we espouse the
scientific method, and support dissemination of discoveries and
theories based on that well-tested method.